April 2021

In Business

Why On-demand Apps Are Essential for Your Business Growth

April 28, 2021 No Comments

In the current dynamic world, where people find it challenging to manage time, they prefer spending a little extra money for faster and convenient service. Businesses can use this trend to their advantage with the help of on-demand service apps. On-demand service apps are the mediators that link consumers and different service providers.

These on-demand service apps cover various sectors, including food, healthcare, media and entertainment, fitness, amongst several others. Hence, whatever industry you serve, these on-demand service apps can help you easily expand your business. Here’s how:

Increased business opportunities

The number of smartphone users is increasing all around the world. With an increase in the number of smartphone users, an on-demand service app gives you an opportunity to reach a wider audience. It helps you expand geographically and enables you to run your business round the clock. On-demand service apps not just helps you connect with more customers but also provides you with more opportunities to partner with multiple service providers. For instance, a food delivery service app will allow you to partner with delivery service providers and several restaurants.

Enhanced service scalability

Consumer need keeps on changing in today’s dynamic world. Businesses find heavy foot traffic in a particular time span of a day while they would have no orders at some other time on the same day. With an on-demand service app, you can tackle all such problems. An on-demand service app allows you to scale your services and their prizes based on consumer needs.

For instance, during rush season, a courier service can provide information easily in real time about any delays for the customer. Similarly, an on-demand taxi service provider app can increase their fares during peak hours. The best part of on-demand service apps is that you can easily update your users about the scaled services through push notifications.

Streamlined marketing pipeline

On-demand service apps allow you to collect a huge amount of customer data. Customers fill in some data before every purchase, and you can use this data to streamline your marketing pipeline. Also, an on-demand service app allows you to track customer behavior. By analyzing such kind of customer data, you can make essential decisions to streamline your marketing pipeline.

For instance, you can offer personalized services to your customers. Suppose a customer is using a transportation service from your app to visit a tourist destination, you can offer discounted rates on food services available in that area. You can also promote your new products and services all through a single platform with your on-demand service app.

Stronger customer relationships

A stronger customer relationship is the key to businesses’ success. An on-demand service app helps with efficient customer relationship management. For instance, you can make your loyal customers feel that they are taken care of. You can start different loyalty programs based on the usage and number of purchases made through your on-demand service app. This will help keep your existing customers as well as attract new ones.

On-demand service apps reassure your customers as they have the ease to select from multiple service providers. Once they have purchased any service from a service provider through your app, then you can allow your customers to set a default provider. This increases the convenience and efficiency of customer service. An on-demand service app also allows customers to track orders and select from various secure payment options, which increases their trust in your brand.

Key features your on-demand service apps can have

The popularity of on-demand service apps and the benefits they provide to businesses is all because of some of their key features, which includes:

Push notifications: On-demand service apps have push notifications feature so that businesses can easily promote their scalable offers and notify customers about the same.

Live tracking: GPS tracking can help assure customers about their package or service as they can get live updates on the positioning of their purchases. A live tracking feature also allows customers to know the expected arrival time.

Booking management: With the booking management feature, customers can easily book or cancel a service from wherever they want and at any time.

Cashless payment integration: Along with the wide range of services, on-demand service apps also provide many cashless payment options. On-demand service apps can integrate various payment gateways to allow payments via credit card, debit card, or third-party wallets.

Undoubtedly, on-demand service apps have become necessary in today’s competitive and digital world. Hence, if you want to stay ahead of your competitors and expand your business extensively, you must invest in an on-demand service app today.

Meta title: Expanding Your Business with On-demand Apps
meta desc: On-demand service apps are increasing in popularity over the past few years and are expected to grow even further in the upcoming years. This blog discusses the various aspects related to having an on-demand service app for your business.

In Finance

How many savings accountshould you have?

April 26, 2021 No Comments

‘How many accounts should I have?’ is a very common question. In the current times, many people have multiple savings accounts. Having more than one account can be very helpful if the use of the bank accounts is planned.

In this article, we will help you understand what is the ideal number of savings accounts, how to organise your bank accounts and the pros and cons of having multiple savings accounts.

Having more than one savings account lets you to segregate your income into various buckets. E.g., you can open a savings account to save money for emergencies or to save money to splurge such as concerts or an expensive purchase.

How to organise different savings accounts

If you want to get your money and finances sorted, earmarking different savings accounts for different uses such savings can simplify your life.

Save for emergencies:

Emergency fund is an essential financial necessity. A sizeable corpus with at least six months of expenses will act as a cushion during emergency situations such as job loss, urgent house repairs or car repairs. It is advisable to build an emergency fund before investing. However, building an emergency fund can take several months. If your focus is on saving money for emergencies, opening a new account to park your money can be a good start.

Decide the percentage of income that you want to save in the emergency fund. Transfer the amount at the start of every month to the new account through Net Banking or Mobile Banking. You can also automate the transfer. Try not to touch the account unless it is urgent.

Segregate expenses and savings into two different accounts:

If you receive your salary in an account, you can use that account to save or invest money. You can transfer the amount you are looking to spend on essentials and luxuries in a different savings account. In this way, you can save a pre-determined amount every month by setting up Systematic Investment Plan(SIP) to invest in Mutual Fund or save money through Recurring Deposit (RD). You can also convert your bonuses to Fixed Deposit (FD) with such a few clicks.

On similar lines, you can open a dedicated savings account for all your savings and investments and link your investments with the account.

Save up money for your splurges:

Do you dream about being in the front row of a rock show or purchase an expensive gadget? If you have long wishlist, opening a savings account to save for your so called ‘frivolous expenses’ will assist you in having a good time without draining your hard-earned money. So, allocate a certain percentage of your monthly income so you can take part in your guilty pleasures without feeling guilty.

Automate your transfers

Banks offer automatic transfers that customers can avail to transfer money from one savings account to other regularly. Set up automatic transfers from your primary account to other accounts so you don’t have to get actively involved in this process. If you don’t see the money, you won’t be tempted to spend the money.

Advantages of Having More than One Savings Account:

Here are some of the advantages of having multiple savings accounts.

Streamline your money: Having multiple savings accounts can help you streamline your expenses and savings, making it easier to track.

Save money: A new bank account can kick start your saving journey. Initially, you may not be confident about saving a certain sum of money regularly. Transfer any amount of money that you are comfortable to test the waters. As life happens, the amount that you can save every month may vary. Even so, it will be better than no savings at all. Moreover, if you are in a dire situation, you don’t have to go up to your friends or parents for financial help as you can easily withdraw from your account.

You can use the saved amount for your emergencies or investments.

Perks: Banks tie ups with various companies to offer discounts to their customers and differentbanks offer a host of different perks. Having more than one account will widen your hunt for the best deals.

Disadvantage of having multiple savings accounts

Maintaining minimum balance: Many savings accounts have a minimum average balance requirement that you need to maintain on a monthly basis. Failing to do so can attract penalties. So, if you have multiple savings account, maintain the minimum balance to avoid penalties.

Conclusion: Having more than one savings account can aid money management. If you are looking at opening a new bank account, you can look at Kotak 811 Zero Balance Savings Account.

Kotak 811 is a digital savings account with no minimum average balance, and you can open the account online at anytime from anywhere with no paperwork.

In Featured

Scams 101: HMRC Copycats

April 24, 2021 No Comments

HM Revenue and Customs, also called HMRC, is the agency handling tax collection. There are uncountable numbers of fraudulent organizations saying they are HMRC for the sake of taking advantage of those who’ll easily fall prey. These victims are usually individuals who lack the knowledge between legit notice from HMRC and those who are out to scam people.

Keep in mind that HMRC will never give information about any promos or policy changes and other payment details either through text or email.

Con Tricks and Techniques

Con artists always manage to create new ways of scamming others when their current tactic isn’t working anymore or simply just to try to gain more through fraudulent activities. Here are some advices from accountants in Watford you must get to know to save yourself from becoming a victim:

Texts about Your Apparent Tax Violation:

On top of the list are messaging scams saying that one way or another, you have violated tax laws. This could be either that you need to provide details you forgot on your form or worse than that you are subpoenaed for owing HMRC a fair amount of money.

Avoid opening any links included in the text messaging. These typically contain links that redirect you to a website that steals your identity which leads to all sorts of theft.

Fake HMRC Voicemail:

These scammers also leave voicemails that’ll surely intimidate you, as well as trigger you to take action. Here are few factors to help you identify the scam:

Intimidating:

They will pour tension to confuse and sweep you off your feet from processing what they’re saying. This could be through claims or lawsuits.

Surprise Contact:

Though some businesses do such, if you are sure that you have never had any trouble with HMRC, it’s probably a scam. To check if from a legit source, ask about something that only HMRC has access about such as your tax reference number.

Identity Theft via Phone:

Scammers will call you and attempt to steal data they can use to access any benefit they can reap. If you receive a phone call claiming it’s HMRC out of nowhere, as well as failing to share vital information that HMRC knows, drop the call.

Lookup for the caller’s number and see if it’s the same as shown on their official website. If it’s not listed, it’s a scam.

Are You Uncomfortable about Your Security?

If you’re anxious about your status with HMRC, or you’re afraid to have foolishly shared information with con artists, speak with your bank quickly and hire accountants in Watford. Explain the whole situation and request an additional layer of security added to your account.

You can reach HMRC via text at 60599 or through email at phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk. Reporting through Action Fraud through 0300 123 2040 is also available. They will help find the solutions to putting an end to scams dragging HMRC and innocent people into their illegal activities.

In Featured

Mortgages Westcliff-on-Sea

April 22, 2021 No Comments

What Work Does a Mortgage Broker Do?

The work of a mortgage broker is to look for the best financiers who will best fit your personal wishes for a mortgage.

Westcliff-on-Sea is a coastal area next to Westcliff-on-Sea which overlooks the Thames estuary. It is well-known for Cliffs Pavilion which is a leading entertainment complex. Westcliff is frequented during the summer months because of the beaches.

If you find the work of applying for a mortgage in Westcliff-on-sea to be tedious, you have to look for someone who will help you with finding the right contract, discussing with lenders, reading through the terms and conditions, and going over the paperwork at Mortgage brokers. This can be really scary if you want to do it by yourself. However, a team can work with you side by side through this. They are approachable, dependent mortgage brokers and will advise and support you through the entire procedure. The only thing you will do is look for what you want

Resident Mortgage Consultants in Westcliff-on-Sea

Maybe this is your first time wanting to buy your own house, or you just want to move to a bigger property (which Westcliff offers), or simply an investor who has seen the prospect of properties around the capital city within a 50-minute train journey. We will jump in and dig through the thousands of listed lenders and sift through to get a lender who fits your financial needs.

Each person is taken as an individual with their own unique needs. We do the financial planning according to your needs since the process of mortgage lending is quite tedious. We will offer advice and solutions to help you achieve your goal. You will always be comfortable knowing that we are with you in this journey and help you in all the complex decisions you have to make.

Mortgage Deals in Westcliff-on-Sea

We are a Chartered Independent Financial Adviser Practice. We are not linked to any specific financial advisor. This should put your mind to ease because we will be choosing from a broad spectrum of financial institutions. Apart from looking for the best lender, we will compare with your own needs so as to ensure your financial goals are met. Our main objective is to get you a mortgage deal which in turn will fulfill your dreams.

Mortgage Advice in Westcliff-on-Sea

The process of owning a home is rather complex. Each individual has their own needs. A mortgage advisor will narrow it down for you from a wide range of mortgage financiers. Get in touch with us if you are looking for the best mortgage broker in Westcliff-on-Sea since we are locally based, liberated, and ready to lend a hand.

So if you want to get house loans that are not usually advertised, you should contact a mortgage broker. A broker might come in handy and get you loans if your creditworthiness is not great, if you own a business or if you are not getting mortgages that are a perfect fit.

In Loan

A More Convenient And Quick Way To Get Loan

April 22, 2021 No Comments

The term hard money loan generally defines the idea of a type of loan which is secured against real property. These kinds of loans are generally used in the cases of real estate transactions and in this scenario, the lender happens to be an individual or company rather than being a bank. This loan is treated as a short-term bridge loan or a loan of last resort. Therefore, the loans are taken out only for a very short duration where the loan is given out based on the property.

How Do Hard Money Loans Work?

The way that these loans work is pretty simple to understand in general. The terms of the loans are based entirely on the valuation of the property that is being used as collateral. This has no exclusive links to the creditworthiness of the borrower in any way. This type of loan is generally not handled by authorized banks or any traditional money lenders. But for any private company or an individual who sees potential in this risky venture, often lends money in this scheme.

The loan givers plan on lending the money to the borrowers often with a very short period of a maximum of three to four years, if not sooner. If the borrower fails to pay back, the property that has been used as collateral is generally renovated and the real estate is resold. If the borrower intends to pay off the debt as quickly as possible, a higher hard money loan is cashed out by the lenders.

What Should Be Kept In Mind About Hard Money Loans?

The amount of money that is generally loaned out in this type of transaction tends to be pretty higher than the amount the banks or several other government lending programs tend to offer. Quite obviously, this puts the lenders at a much higher risk when they finance someone. But on the other hand, it can also act as an excellent way to transact capital without having to go through lengthy approval processes. Moreover, the borrower may also receive some flexibility in the repayment schedule by discussing it with the lender.

What Are The Benefits Of Hard Money Loans?

One of the most noteworthy importance of these loans is that the approval process of such a loan is much faster and a lot simpler as opposed to the traditional loaning services.

The lending of the loan does not depend on the financial state of the borrower. This means that an individual even with very poor credit can receive big amounts in the loan if they can present substantial equity in the property.

For a hard money loan, the dealers are not very interested in getting paid back if they see a better opportunity and a much greater value in the property that is being used as collateral.